More of the beautiful children.

I hung out in the city all day with my new buddy Julie, but I forgot to take pictures...so here are more pictures of cute kids...Julie and I will take pictures another day :o)

Vietnamese children in Cambodia.

If ever I wondered why I am here and why I am doing this...today gave me the answer.








These are Vietnamese children.

For 80% of them, an older sibling has been sold.

Because they are not Khmer they are in the most at-risk community in Phnom Penh.

I got to hang out and play with them all afternoon.

Week 2...

Second week in Cambodia...

This week I have experienced quite a bit of Cambodian culture and NGO culture in Cambodia. I participated in the Chab Dai partner meeting on Thursday and Friday, which was wonderful. I connected with a lot of the NGOs in the area and met a bunch of people within the organizations. One of the directors of one of the ministries is actually moving out to Hillsboro, Oregon in a month. I hope to connect with him and his family a little better here and then meet up with them when I go home too.

The other activity I participated in was The Rubbish Project. It was the “trash-to-fash” fashion show I mentioned earlier. It took place on Friday night and the place was packed. It was fun to pretend to be a model for a night. The whole event was way out of my comfort zone—I’m not really a ‘party’ person or a person who likes large groups of people in any way shape or form. I also don’t like all the attention on me, so it was quite a stretch. It was a good experience though. When else am I going to be able to say that I modeled in a fashion show?

Hannah and I before the show...I am wearing Hannah's creation and she is wearing her friend Abby's creation.

This was the girl that went before me...she is a semi-famous Phnom Penh dancer


Me walking the catwalk...I don't know what that lady is doing...


Us in front of the judges...

our apartment.

Me and my roomie after church :o)

A not very good picture of our living room/dining room...there's a table in the left corner that you can't see...it's really small.
Our kitchen.
Jennie in her room.
Me being my usual self showing off my room. Maybe I'll learn not to be a nerd whilst I am here in Cambodia.

I hope you enjoyed the lovely pics for today :o)

Pictures from Cambodia :o)

Here are the pictures I promised...

Toul Sleng: One of the rooms where they tortured people during the Khmer Rouge


These were the rules they had to follow...
Here they are closer and in English
This was at the Killing Fields just outside of Phnom Penh. There were mass graves where thousand of people were brought, shot, and dumped in a hole then covered up.
This is Phnom Penh from the top of their big mall


There will be more pictures to come later...I promise...maybe some of them will even have me and Jennie in them :o)

Life is good in Cambodia.

I have been in Cambodia for almost a week now, and I love it. I can get around with minimal difficulty by myself on moto-dopes (motorcycle taxis). I have now worked in the office for 4 days and I am also becoming accustomed to that as well. I pretty much work from 8am-5/6pm every night and then have homework to do at home too. Oh the joy of working with a small NGO :o)

Actually, I LOVE my job. It feels good to be doing something that really matters for once. I am helping set up a child-helpline in Cambodia that will be available to all children all over Cambodia. In doing this I am working with Chab Dai and networking with a lot of other NGOs in the area as well as the government, businesses and the UN. On top of that, I am creating a huge list of contacts so that if I want to come back and work in Cambodia after graduation I couple probably get a job.

I have also decided a topic for one of my research papers: The Future of Human Trafficking in Cambodia (or the GMS-Greater Mekong Region) There are going to be a lot of changes in infrastructure and regionalization in the next few years that will dramatically impact trafficking. Hopefully through this we can get a good idea of how to prepare ourselves so the issues don't sneak up on us.

I will post pictures later, though I haven't taken many because Jennie has the card for my camera because she forgot hers.

God Bless,
Kim